Toronto Design Scene: who knew?

A special travel-edition of my blog from the past few days in TO. Who knew that my home of nigh-ten years is all grown up? When I left Toronto a little over three years ago, it definitely had some solid roots in the design scene: institutions like OCAD have ensured that. But with the building boom of the past decade, it would seem like things have shifted into the mainstream. From the completion of the Liebskind-inspired ROM and the Gehry-driven AGO to Mississauga's (I know...MISSISSAUGA!?!) "Marilyn Munrow Towers" I've been impressed with the world-class architectural additions of late. But perhaps even more impressive is the emergence of the interior and industrial design scene throughout the city.

For the past few years, there's been a publication called Design Lines - almost like a free, quarterly, Toronto-specific design mag that also doubles as a great reference guide for shopping in the city. They identify various design-hubs in the city (Queen E/W, King E/W, the Junction, Ave-Dav, Caledonia) and provide brief reviews, hours, etc. Gotta admit to being jealous that Van doesn't have an equivalent (the Make it Local publication isn't quite the same - though still good).

So - highlights/fave stores:
1) Mjolk (pronounced Mi-yelk, and meaning...go figure..."Milk" in Swedish) - it's a Scandinavian-inspired higher-end design shop. The interior falls somewhere between a gallery, a sauna (without the heat - its got a lot of wood), and a gift shop, and the products range from furniture to kitchen utensils and jewelry. Saw an awesome set of tongs and a very cool built-in drain rack.


Choice items: 

Scissors/kitchen tool

Sori Yanagi Perforated tongs

Hand hammered Yukihira Pot

2) Made - a Canadian-design store that has more interior furnishings (lights, chairs, credenzas - aka ground-level cabinets with legs, etc.) Some very cool stuff and the owners were lovely. In particular - have a look in their catalogue at the credenza by Heidi Earnshaw, the live-edge side tables by Deanne Lehtinen, the lamps by Propellor Design, and the pendant lamp by Rob Southcott.

3) Stylegarage - another Canadian company that's sort of like a high-end version of Nood (or a higher-high end version of Ikea). Great design: clean, simple, modern, natural, and sustainable...that's what I'm all about!



Lots of neat stuff, but we thought we might be able to steal the concrete table idea...





And again....was going to post more here, but decided that more frequent was better than more comprehensive! So, that's it for now.